


Tea

by Kmandergirl



Series: Idalya Mahariel Stories [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 19:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6207328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kmandergirl/pseuds/Kmandergirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A gift of tea causes Idalya to reflect on her past while her noisy habits bother Solas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea

The snowstorm had coming barreling over the Frostbacks faster than the residents of Skyhold could react. What had started as a bitterly cold morning had escalated into warriors, Templars, and servants running to collect weapons and training dummies to be brought inside as the temperature continued to drop outside coating the fortress in a thick layer of ice.

Hours later Idalya was curled up in a high-backed wooden chair in Solas’ rotunda, her legs tucked beneath her form, a hand woven blanket thrown over her lap to retain all warmth inside shivering bones. She had a tome on the lives of ancient elves that Solas had suggested she read over within her hands, but as he had been distracted with his own pile of research and parchment, she had slipped her contraband copy of the Randy Dowager, Cassandra had acquired, unnoticed within the covers of the book.  

They worked in a pleasurable silence; Solas humming to himself, forgotten songs of old, softly when he found an avenue of research that piqued his interest, and the crisp sounds of Idalya’s magazine flipping as she found a rather juicy tale of a strong handsome Templar and his battle weary sword maiden. Solas had just finished the writing on another parchment sheet of notes, blowing the ink dry, as the servant entered.

The elven servant approached Idalya with a silver tray with full tea service and a tray of delicious looking scones that had Idalya licking her cold cracked lips before the tray was set down.

“A gift for the Lady Idalya.” As welcome as the food was, she hadn’t ordered this and usually preferred to grab her own food in the kitchens and not rely on the vast network of servants.

“Who is the gift from?” The servant shrugged.

“I do not know, my Lady. I was simply called by the kitchen to deliver it to you promptly.” Giving a brief bow, the servant exited leaving Idalya in confusion over who may have sent her delicious gift.

“This is so…kind.” she muttered aloud. “Solas, was this you?” The mage looked up in disbelief before motioning to the steaming pot of tea with a look of disgust on his face before resuming the line he was in the middle of writing. Solas hated tea. Hated it beyond any level of comprehension. In Thedas there existed dislike, hate, and Solas’ feelings towards tea. Idalya had once tried to have him explain his reasoning and after nearly an hour of berating her in elven all she could determine was that he felt humans were the only species that could ruin perfectly good leaves.

Ignoring his judging expression, she poured herself a cup of the steaming tea and smiled as the smells of mint and honey wafted up her nostrils. This was turning out to be a delightful day in spite of the piles of snow that the Maker was currently dumping outside on Skyhold. It was refreshing to get a chance to just sit in silence and relax for once, letting her muscles rest after weeks of swinging swords. The further Solas got into his work, the quieter he’d become which was fine by her. A chance to have companionship without the need to fill the silence with unnecessary noise.

_Slurp._

The tea was divine. It felt like a piece of memory poured into a kettle sent to her at a moment she needed it most. Tea was something she always associated with her mother and every time she sipped a rich brew she would be reminded of those memories that she always carried on her shoulders.

_Sluurp._

The sound of Solas’ quill had stopped and when Idalya looked over, the mage’s brow was creased as he stared in annoyance at her teacup.

“Oh… sorry. Bad habit.” As she pulled the porcelain to her mouth, the mage’s eyes never left the cup of his disturbance. Feeling self-aware, Idalya took the gentlest of drinks from the rim and waited suddenly afraid the sound of her swallowing would violate Solas’ domain of silence. She swallowed as quietly as possible and the mage nodded in approval before resuming his writing with a shake of his head.

Putting down her cup, she reached out and grabbed one of the warm scones from the tray. They were fresh baked and smelled sweeter than anything she had eaten in a long time. A grin stretched its way across her face as the scone drew closer.

_Crunch._

A soft moan escaped her pursed lips as the pastry melted in her mouth. At the sound of Solas’ quill hitting the desk she grimaced before mouthing ‘sorry’ to the elf and motioning to the scones as a peace offering. The elf shrugged in surrender and took one with his long fingers and leaned back in his chair as he nibbled on the corner of the baked good.

“You know, they used to say my mother made the best pot of tea in all of Denerim.” Her voice was quiet as she stared down into her cup of tea. “She worked many years within the royal palace and she used to tell me that visiting dignitaries would stop in to visit the King just to have some of her famous tea.” Even with Solas’ presence, she felt very alone in that moment as memories of her mother’s dark skin and mahogany ringlets flooded into her mind. Idalya was never one to sleep until late in the night as a child, so when her mother would return from her shift at the castle the two would sit and enjoy a steaming pot of tea together as her mother told her stories of the beautiful royal gowns and events she’d seen at the palace.

Idalya had never said goodbye. When she was pulled out of the alienage by Duncan, she told herself it would provide her the means to get her mother out of there and have a real life somewhere untouched by the poverty that spread throughout the alienage like a plague. Then the last time she entered Denerim, it was to fight the Archdemon and by that point she had already decided her fate and the thought of saying goodbye to her mother knowing it was the last time had been too much for her to handle. Using every excuse she could think of she had avoided the conversation and now it was too late. Her mother died in the flames while the alienage burned and Idalya now lived with the regret of running away from the woman she loved so much.

Closing her eyes tightly, she brought her cup to her mouth and inhaled deeply the sweet smell of the tea as let herself remember those nights spent talking with her mother. If she focused hard enough, she could feel her presence like the old elf was still there standing behind her, always supporting her.

She opened her lavender eyes, blinking away the glassiness that threatened to leak out as she saw the mage watching her with his analyzing eyes.

“Solas?” The mage nodded. “Do you ever feel like the ghosts of your past are following you every day of your life?” Solas’ eyes widened as her regarded her question as though she had pressed a red hot poker to a wound. The mage sighed.

“Every day, _Asha._ Every day.” Idalya nodded stiffly and returned to staring into her tea for some kind of answers.

Solas’ head turned to the far door, long before Idalya hear the heavy armored steps moving through the hallway. Out of the dark hall, Knight-Captain Barris appeared turning to take the shortcut to the Commander’s office. As he attempted to open the door, Solas’ voice rang out through the rotunda.

“Ser Barris, a moment of your time.” The Templar turned back and approached before standing at attention, one fist over his chest.

“If I could ask a favor of you. Someone has sent a gracious gift of tea, but unfortunately I detest the vile substance. Would you mind sharing with Idalya so she doesn’t have to be alone while I run notes to the War Room?” The Templar looked confused for a second, before his deep green eyes flicked to Idalya’s violet swirled ones.

“Yes…I would like that.” Solas smiled, satisfied with some outcome he was intending and rose from his chair with his collected paperwork before motioning for the awkwardly standing Templar to take his chair. Barris sat down on the edge of the chair as the bulk of his armor wouldn’t fit between the thin arms as Idalya poured him a cup and launched back into her tales of her mother’s famous tea making unaware of the smile the Templar was giving her as he watched her in her relaxed state.

“Here,” she handed over the prepared cup of tea into his shaking hands. “This is mint and honey tea, it’s my absolute favorite.” She beamed.

“I know.” Barris mumbled into the small cup.

“Did you say something?” Her head was tilted as she watched Barris and he could barely contain the grin that threatened to break lose across his features.

He shook his head, “It was nothing, continue…tell me more about your mother.”

A crooked smile crossed her face as she watched the handsome Templar who was seated so close to her, sharing all her treasured memories until the pot was empty.


End file.
